Angry Mother Of Slain Pendleton Marine Speaks Out
The war in Iraq touched my family last week. The son of my wife's friend, a young marine named Derek Gardner, was killed when a terrorist drove a car next to his convoy and detonated a large bomb. Six other marines were killed. It marked a very sad chapter, in a sad and dangerous war. Our children our dying in a war far from home, in the abstract it bothered me, but last Tuesday when my wife called to break the news, I could not breathe. My own son is old enough to serve, and he is currently very far from home too. I could not help but think about what it how much it would hurt to lose him. the pain must be unbearable.
Vickey De Lacour is Derek’s mother and a long time friend of my wife. She is a nice person who loved her children and was proud of her son's service, but at the same time worried about his safety. He was three or four weeks from coming home when he died. Now Vicky is expressing her anger and the press is eating it up. Vicky is an articulate and attractive single mother, her son may well have been the 1000th serviceman killed in Iraq. The media circle like sharks. They tape her agony, exploit her pain. She is nothing but a story to them. Give it a rest. Let Vicky grieve her for her son in peace.
RIP Derek Gardner
